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March 5, 2003
The Honorable Kevin Brady
U.S. House of Representatives
428 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative Brady:
On behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), I am writing to express our strong support for your Orphan Drug Tax Credit proposal, included in H.R. 878, "The Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act of 2003." BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. Your proposal will provide critical incentive to many of these small biotech companies to continue their work in developing therapies for small patient populations that are characterized by some of the most debilitating rare diseases.
More than 20 million Americans suffer from one of over 5,000 rare diseases and medical disorders. By reducing the costs of developing medicines for small patient populations, the credit allows companies to develop products that would otherwise be commercially unfeasible. As you know, the current Orphan Drug Tax Credit applies only to qualified clinical trials that are incurred after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially designates the drug as "orphan," resulting in significant delays. As a result, a company may be forced to postpone clinical trials and, therefore, patient access to new life-saving treatments. Your proposal will ensure that clinical trials will proceed without delay.
Once again, I commend you for your legislative efforts to make this proven tax credit more accessible. We look forward to working with you and your staff as your legislation proceeds. If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Cohen, Vice President for Government Relations at 202-962-9200.
Sincerely,
Carl B. Feldbaum
President
CBF:sc
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